In the functional perspective on group decision making theory, it states that there are four functions of effective decision making. These functions include: analysis of the problem, goal setting, identification of alternatives, and evaluation of positive and negative characteristics. Hirokawa and Gouran call these the requisite functions of effective decision making.
Identification of alternatives is defined as, “generation of options to sufficiently solve the problem”. When coming up with a plan it is important to weigh your options. One must consider all sorts of different choices before making their final decision. Knowing all your options can only improve your end result.
In the movie, Non Stop, the air marshal on board receives a text message from someone on the flight that there is a bomb somewhere and that its timer is almost out. Eventually he finds the bomb, but still hasn’t figured out who brought it on board or how to disable it. In the video, a couple of the passengers and the air marshal are all thinking of ways to solve the problem at hand. The african american male suggests paying off the person or finding him, but both of those options are insufficient. Knowing that all of the ideas mentioned aren’t going to be apart of an effective decision, the air marshal comes up with a plan that is used in the end to rescue all the passengers aboard.
This example is just like the one from the book where the green and blue groups are weighing their options about when to have their classes each day.
